Chakik and FastPile continued their journey across the world. Moving much slower than the squirrel would have liked, but Chakik knew he needed the slow directional sense of the turtle to guide them. As the pair traversed forest and field they came upon many barriers and fences. The one today was different.
FastPile stopped them immediately when he smelled it, and quickly stopped the squirrel from scampering over it as he always did.
“Wait.” was all the wise turtle needed to utter to catch the squirrel in mid stride. Chakik twisted from his stride and turned diligently toward the old turtle.
“What this time?” he asked impatiently but he knew the turtle had a reason.
“This smells funny. Use your nose for once. It burns.” calmly replied the turtle.
Chakik slowly approached the fence in their way, knowing the turtle was probably right. He looked left and right, maybe they could just go around it, but their approach seemed to have led them into the direct middle of this strange fence. It smelled of burned things and was slightly reminiscent of the rest area. The fence seemed alive, with its own purpose, unlike any they had crossed before.
“This fence is alive.” glowered the turtle. “We have to go around.”
Chakik started towards it and was quickly stopped by the most forceful sound he had ever heard FastPile make.
“STOP.”
Exhausted from travelling all day, Chakik sat down, now a safe distance from the fence and looked at the turtle. He knew when FastPile had an intuition he was usually right, but he had never seen him this blunt.
“Do not touch it.” the turtle said in a calmer voice, now that the squirrel was out of danger. “Its wrong.”
No sooner had the turtle said this, than a figure appeared on the other side of the fence from the darkness. It’s body shown first, round, fat, and fluffy? A dark head soon poked from the fluffly shape and bleated a greeting, standing a few feet from the fence.
“Hello. I am sheep. Don’t touch the fence.”
“Thank you sheep, I am FastPile, the turtle, and this is Chakik the squirrel”. Both nodded as their names were mentioned.
“Don’t touch the fence.” the sheep repeated.
“We need to get around this, can you help us?” the turtle inquired.
“I am sheep. Don’t touch the fence.” repeated the sheep.
Chakik sighed impatiently and looked to the turtle. FastPile’s expression didn’t change (not that it ever did) and he simply asked again. “Can you help us get around?”
“Don’t touch the fence.” the sheep repeated.
FastPile took a deep breath. He seemed to hold it forever to the point that Chakik thought he stopped breathing. Then he slowly spoke; “Show other side?”
The sheep on the other side of the fence reacted like this was the best thing he’d ever heard, which as Chakik found out later, was entirely possible, by racing off into the dark, leaving them as they were, standing next to the strange smelling fence.
“Well that worked great.” Chakik scoffed at the turtle. As soon as he said it thought, he realized the turtles plan was greater than this. FastPile, to his credit, didn’t even look up at the impatient squirrel. He stood, as much as a turtle stands, and waited.
And they waited.
And waited.
Squirrels are very good at a lot of things, running, climbing, eating, jumping. One thing squirrels are not good at, is waiting.
Chakik knew he had to wait, but he was going out of his skin. Running around the trees near the fence. Jumping from branch to branch. Seeing how far out on a branch he could go before it broke. This game he found particular fun in, as the trees near the fence were thin. Chakik would climb up and up and then dart out to the end of a branch to see if it simply bent to his weight, dropping him on the branch below, or snapping and sending him tumbling. Normally squirrels can easily gauge the strength and willingness of branches from the tree, an old tree has snappy branches, a young one bendy, but these trees were different. At their bases they were very flexible and felt young to Chakik. As he climbed however, the branches which should have gotten more and more flexible due to their youth, became hard and rigid, and even slippery on some. The last branch Chakik scampered onto cracked and broke.
The squirrels tail flashed out, his limbs instinctively reaching for bark.
Thankfully he only fell a few feet onto a branch that held his weight, but barely. It’s bark was much too dry for its size.
Chakik now understood what the turtle was trying to tell him. Something was not right.
Quickly he clambered back down. “Something isn’t right.” As soon as he said it, the little squirrel regretted his words as they were met by an all to familiar knowing look from the turtle.
“Just wait.” The two words that the squirrel hated but respected from the turtle. Just wait. So the unlikely pair sat and waited.
Soon the darkness was hilighted by a brighter shape coming into their view. It looked like the sheep that had identified itself earlier, but much bigger. As the shape came closer, the squirrel could see it was many sheep, moving in unison toward the fence. There were many, more than the squirrel could count.
The sheep approached the fence, Chakik moved back a bit, but FastPile sat in the same place he had been when it all started. This uncanny ability of the turtle to be at the right place all the time made the squirrel jealous, he needed to move around and check all the angles, yet somehow, even after he was done, the turtle was always in the right spot.
“Hello. Don’t touch the fence.” Said the nearest sheep. Chakik noticed that she wasn’t the biggest, but the others made a semi-circle around her, showing that she was in charge.
“We know. Can we get under?” asked the turtle. “Under”. Chakik did not know this word. He simply wanted to climb it and go over. But with no trees close enough to jump across, he bit his tongue, hoping to quell his twitching tail, and simply listened to the exchange between the turtle and the sheep.
“Under?” questioned the sheep. Immediately the squirrel knew these animals were friends. “Don’t touch the fence.” Maybe not.
“We need to go through. Can we go under.” the turtle answered, no question, just a statement of what was necessary.
The sheep milled around and spoke in their own language, which Chakik didn’t understand. It sounded like squirrels stuttering trying to describe their tails to him. “Baaa Baaaak Baaa baaaaaaaaa”. He was able to, not surprisingly make out a few “Don’t touch the fence”‘s, it was nonsense otherwise. Why they needed to use a different language befuddled Chakik. He understood the first one that had been at the fence, but now he just listened. The longer he listened the more the thought he understood.
The main sheep spoke again so Chakik could undertand. “We can go under. Sheep help.”
Finally thought the squirrel.
“Don’t touch the fence.”
The squirrel sighed.
All the while FastPile had said nothing, but Chakik knew he understood every word the sheep had said.
The sheep came near the fence, but did not touch it, and using their strange toes, they dug downward. As they took turns, each one happily smiled at the squirrel and said “”Don’t touch the fence. I am also sheep.” then began its turn at digging.
Finally they had tunneled under the fence, and Chakik and the turtle squeezed under. Chakik could have gone through easily for a long time, but he waited for the sheep to make the tunnel deep enough for his friend to fit as well. Together they clambered through and continued their trek. The sheep bounded along next to them, with more joy than the squirrel thought necessary, but he envied them in their happiness.
“You not touch fence.” More then one happily pronounced as the leapt past.
The squirrel and the turtle made their way across the field, which was barren and dry, for what seemed like an eternity. No trees or even bushes were around for the squirrel to run up. His heart raced faster and faster as he slowly walked next to the turtle, in a halo of sheep.
The sheep surrounded them, bounded around them, so much that the only thing the squirrel could see were the sheep. They smelled strangely, all the same, of dirt, and…well… sheep. It was a stagnant smell that the squirrel was not familiar with, and one he did not enjoy. The turtle moved along slowly and silently as he always did, with an invisible purpose the squirrel could never comprehend. The circle of sheep eventually reached the other side of the field, there they finally broke, showing another fence, but a passage was already carved under it, allowing passgage.
“Don’t touch the fence.”
With a sigh, Chakik quickly crawled under the fence, keeping his tail low and near. He popped up on the other side, ready to continue the journey, but he was alone. FastPile was still on the other side. Standing and moving his head slowly from sheep to sheep, bobbing it down a bit as he came to face each one. The sheep let out a low “Baaa” in their language as the turtle bowed his head in their direction. The squirrel was ready to go, to put this obstacle behind them and continue their quest. The turtle languished. Chakik could not keep his tail from twitching with anticipation and the great turtle glanced his way. Chakik froze, but his tail kept twitching. He drew it in front of himself, clutching it with his paws, but he knew FastPile had seen and known his hurry. This seemed to make the turtle go even slower. Finally the turtle turned his gaze to the main sheep.
Without a word, the turtle made a low sweeping move with his head and then headed to the opening in the dirt that lay before him. As he lumbered, the sheep standing silently, a young and small sheep dashed in front of him, lay itself flat in the dirt, and wriggled under the fence to stand next to the squirrel.
No one reacted but the squirrel, who jumped straight up into the air. When he landed, next to the dirty lamb, Chakik was more startled to hear it simply say “Also sheep.”
The squirrel looked to the turtle for help, but by now FastPile had crawled through the second passage easily. The other sheep were talking again in their own language, exchanging a long series of “Baaa baaa baaaaaaaa”s. FastPile simply smiled at Chakik as he crawled past him. The lamb bleated with joy, glanced back at the fence, and bounced after the turtle. Chakik sat motionless. The sheep on the inside of the fence continued to talk amongst themselves. No others tried for the hole they had dug. The turtle continues on his slow march away, Also Sheep happily following.
“Are you coming?” Chakik finally asked the remaining sheep, wanting to leave with the turtle.
“Don’t touch the fence.” was the smiling reply they all gave. Chakik waited a bit more, motioning to the opening under the fence, which only cause the sheep to kick dirt into it, and fill in their only escape, all the while saying “Don’t touch the fence.”
Finally the squirrel bounded away after the turtle and lamb, sheep smiling from behing the fence at him. He caught up with his friend now companioned by a bounding lamb. “Also sheep!” was all the young sheep said as it danced next to the turtle. FastPile did not even acknowledge the squirrels presence as they moved forward.